10 Best Sanctum Rivals for Solana LST Infrastructure

As Solana’s liquid staking ecosystem continues to grow, the choice of infrastructure can have a real impact on users, developers and DeFi projects. Sanctum is one of the more popular names out there but it’s not the only one to look at. In this guide, I am going to introduce the best Sanctum competitors for Solana LST infrastructure.

I will compare platforms based on their staking models, LST support, liquidity, fees, developer tools, DeFi integrations and practical use cases, so that you can find the most appropriate alternative.

What Is Sanctum?

Sanctum is a liquid staking infrastructure platform on Solana that aims to make SOL staking more liquid, composable and accessible to the ecosystem. It allows users and projects to create, manage, trade and integrate liquid staking tokens (LSTs) while remaining exposed to staking rewards.

Sanctum also offers infrastructure for LST liquidity, validator delegation, and DeFi integrations. Its platform supports multiple Solana staking assets and helps developers build products based on LSTs. Sanctum’s goal is to improve liquidity and utility for staked SOL on Solana by integrating staking with a wider array of DeFi applications.

Why Look for Sanctum Rivals?

Different LST Models: Alternatives provide diverse liquid staking, validator delegation and liquid restaking models so users can pick the infrastructure that best fits their particular staking and liquidity needs.

Lower Fees: Other protocols may have different staking, withdrawal, management, or integration fees, so users and developers are able to compare infrastructure costs and expected staking returns.

MEV Rewards: Some Sanctum alternatives like Jito, include MEV rewards into liquid staking, which may offer additional reward systems besides standard Solana staking.

Validator Diversification: Each platform has different validator selection and delegation strategies, giving users choices for diversification, network participation, and access to specific staking infrastructures.

DeFi Integrations: Competing LST platforms will offer access to various lending markets, DEXs, liquidity pools and other DeFi applications, creating more opportunities for staked SOL.

Developer Infrastructure: There may be different APIs, SDKs, staking tools, and integration frameworks available, so some alternatives are more developer-friendly than others to build custom Solana staking applications.

Institutional Requirements: Some competitors are more focused on institutional staking, custody, compliance, or enterprise infrastructure. This creates opportunities for entities with needs outside of retail liquid staking.

Key Points

Platform	Key Point
Jito	Leading Solana liquid staking protocol combining staking rewards with MEV revenue through JitoSOL.
Marinade Finance	One of Solana’s largest liquid staking platforms, issuing mSOL and delegating stake across a broad validator set.
BlazeStake (SolBlaze)	Decentralized liquid staking protocol offering bSOL with a strong focus on validator decentralization.
JPool	Solana liquid staking platform featuring automated validator selection and stake distribution.
Socean	Algorithmic liquid staking protocol designed to optimize validator allocation via scnSOL.
Fragmetric	Solana-focused liquid restaking protocol expanding staking utility beyond traditional LSTs.
Marginfi (LST offering)	Provides liquid staking functionality alongside broader Solana DeFi services.
Liquid Collective	Institutional-grade liquid staking solution for Solana featuring LsSOL.
Laine	Validator-led liquid staking ecosystem offering laineSOL and staking analytics tools.
Phase Labs	Enterprise-focused Solana liquid staking provider offering the phaseSOL LST.

1. Jito

Founded in 2022, Jito is a native Solana staking and liquid staking protocol. Launched in October 2022, JitoSOL is Solana’s first LST that is built to share MEV rewards along with regular staking yield. Its infrastructure distributes SOL amongst chosen validators and JitoSOL automatically collects staking and MEV rewards.

Jito also offers developer documentation and integration tooling, such as Solana stake-pool libraries, Web3.js, and its stake-deposit-interceptor SDK. JitoSOL is heavily utilized throughout Solana DeFi, including in DEX and lending strategies. Jito charges a 4% annual management fee on staking and MEV rewards, and a 0.1% direct withdrawal fee. Its main differentiator is MEV-enhanced LST infrastructure.

Things You Can Do:

1. MEV-Enhanced Liquid Staking – For users that want to earn staking rewards + MEV rewards through JitoSOL.
2. DeFi Collateral – JitoSOL can be used for lending, borrowing and other DeFi strategies while preserving liquid staking exposure.
3. LST Liquidity – Used for liquidity provision and trading on Solana DEXs and liquidity pools.
4. Developer integrations – For applications building staking, LST and MEV related functionality on Solana.
5. Institutional Staking Infrastructure – Recommended for large users who want liquid staking with an established Solana staking and MEV ecosystem.

Big Limitations

1. Solana Dependency – JitoSOL infrastructure is closely integrated with the Solana ecosystem.
2. Fee consideration – JitoSOL charges some protocol fees which will reduce the user’s gross staking and MEV returns.
3. Smart-Contract Risk – The users are still exposed to the risks of the underlying staking-pool and DeFi contracts.
4. MEV Complexity – Comparing returns from MEV-enhanced rewards to basic SOL staking may be more difficult.

2. Marinade Finance

Marinade Finance is a Solana staking protocol launched in 2021 with a goal to automate delegation, decentralize the network and provide liquid staking via mSOL. Its infrastructure allows users to stake SOL and earn mSOL, representing their underlying stake and usable throughout DeFi. Marinade automatically spreads stake across a wide set of validators, but Marinade Native is also available for users who want to delegate automatically but don’t want to get an LST.

Developers are able to integrate staking functionality into their applications using Marinade’s TypeScript SDK and permissionless SDK tooling. mSOL is compatible with liquidity pools, DEX trading, lending, and other DeFi applications. The current Marinade docs also touch on instant unstaking and validator selection mechanisms.

Best Use Cases

1. Liquid SOL Staking – Users can stake SOL and receive mSOL while being liquid.
2. Validator Diversification – Useful for users who want exposure to a diversified set of validators instead of choosing individual validators.
3. DeFi Strategies – mSOL can be used in lending, liquidity pools and other Solana DeFi applications.
4. Automated Delegation – The best option for users who want the protocol to handle validator allocation.
5. Native Staking – Marinade can also be used for automated native SOL staking without the need for an LST.

Key Limitations

1. Solana Only Exposure – Its core staking infrastructure is built on Solana.
2. LST Liquidity Risk – The ability to convert mSOL into other tokens can be impacted by market conditions.
3. Smart-Contract Risk – Liquid staking adds more dependencies on protocols and smart-contracts.
4. Returns – The results can differ according to the conditions of the network staking and the performance of the validator.

3. BlazeStake (SolBlaze)

SolBlaze built BlazeStake, a non-custodial Solana liquid staking protocol that mints bSOL to users who stake SOL. Started building its stake-pool infrastructure in 2021, with a focus on validator diversification, ecosystem participation and DeFi liquidity. bSOL is staked SOL plus accrued rewards, and its SOL value increases as staking rewards are accrued.

BlazeStake has instant and delayed unstaking options, and its Custom Liquid Staking feature allows users to send SOL to eligible validators while keeping bSOL liquid. Developers are able to plug in staking through a TypeScript SDK and specific APIs. bSOL can be used in Solana DeFi apps such as Orca, Raydium and Saber. Currently, the documented fees are 0% deposit and 0.1% withdrawal fees.

Use cases

1. Liquid SOL Staking – Stake SOL and get bSOL while keeping your position liquid.
2. Validator Diversification – Useful to allow more validators to participate through delegated staking.
3. DeFi Liquidity – bSOL is used in Solana DEXs, liquidity pools and other DeFi applications.
4. Custom Validator Staking Its infrastructure is useful for users who want more control over validator delegation.
5. Developer Applications – SolBlaze provides staking functionality exposed to developers via the SDK and infrastructure.

Key Challenges

1. Solana Ecosystem Dependency – bSOL is mostly made for Solana based applications.
2. Liquidity Risk – The liquidity of bSOL dictates the ability to exit via secondary markets.
3. Protocol Risk – Users are exposed to smart-contract and staking-pool risk.
4. DeFi Integration Risk – Integrating bSOL with third party protocols exposes you to additional smart-contract and counterparty risk.

4. JPool

JPool is a Solana liquid staking protocol, established in 2021, which issues JSOL when users deposit SOL. It is based on the infrastructure of automated validator allocation via Smart Delegation, allowing users to preserve liquid exposure while the underlying SOL accrues staking rewards. JSOL is an exchange-rate-based LST, which means that rewards increase the amount of SOL that each JSOL represents, rather than issuing additional tokens.

JPool offers various staking options, such as incentive staking for a particular validator and balanced liquid staking. JPool gives developers @jpool/sdk, direct-staking integration and CLI tooling to programmatically make deposits, withdrawals and query the pool. JSOL is portable and can be used across Solana DeFi. Fees are operation-specific and current amounts are published via JPool’s pool information.

Top Use Cases/

1. Liquid SOL Staking – Users receive JSOL in return for staking their SOL.
2. Automated Validator Allocation – Users can gain diversified staking exposure through JPool’s delegation mechanism.
3. DeFi Applications – JSOL can be used for trading, liquidity providing, and other DeFi strategies.
4. Developer Integrations – Developers are able to use the SDK to build applications that interact with JPool programmatically.
5. Staking Optimization – Best for users who prefer automatic stake distribution instead of manual management of validators.

Major Limitations

1. Smaller Ecosystem – JPool’s ecosystem footprint is smaller than some of the largest Solana LST providers.
2. Liquidity Factors – The liquidity of JSOL may change depending on the trading platform and market conditions.
3. Smart-Contract Exposure – Users rely on JPool’s staking-pool infrastructure.
4. Solana Dependency – The protocol’s LST utility is highly dependent on Solana DeFi adoption.

5. Socean.

Socean is an early liquid staking protocol on Solana, launched in 2021 to increase validator diversification and make staked SOL usable in DeFi. Its stake pool allows users to deposit SOL and receive a liquid staking representation, historically linked to the scnSOL ecosystem, while the underlying assets are delegated to validators. Instead of asking users to pick individual validators themselves, the protocol was built atop algorithmic stake allocation and transparent pool management.

Socean’s ecosystem has historically included DeFi integrations and liquidity strategies around its liquid staking token. Much of the currently discoverable Socean documentation is, however, legacy material and current integrations, token status and fee schedules should be rechecked independently prior to publication. This makes Socean interesting primarily as an established historical competitor in Solana LSTs.

Best Applications of

1. Historical Liquid Staking – Socean is relevant for understanding early development of Solana LST infrastructure.
2. Validator Diversification – It was originally designed to distribute stake across validators.
3. Liquid SOL Exposure – The protocol was designed to enable users to stay liquid and earn staking rewards.
4. DeFi Integration – Its liquid staking assets are designed for use across Solana DeFi applications.
5. Solana Staking Research – Benchmark for comparison for the evolution of Solana’s LST market.

Main Limitations

1. Current Activity is Limited – The current ecosystem footprint appears to be far less than the top active Solana LST protocols.
2. Old Documentation – Some information about Socean that is publicly available is historical, not current.
3. Liquidity Uncertainty – Check liquidity and depth of integration before trusting its assets.
4. Limited Developer Momentum – The developer ecosystem in view is not as strong as newer Solana staking platforms.

6. Fragmetric

Launched in 2024, Fragmetric is a Solana liquid restaking protocol that enhances traditional LST infrastructure to facilitate liquid restaking and modular asset management. Its flagship product, fragSOL takes SOL and supported LSTs and creates a liquid representation that can earn staking, MEV and restaking rewards. It has supported assets including JitoSOL, mSOL, BNSOL and bbSOL.

Fragmetric also developed the FRAG-22 asset-management standard leveraging Solana Token Extensions for reward accounting, liquidity management and composability. The developer documentation includes resources and guides for integrating with its assets and infrastructure. Its model is different from the traditional LST providers by combining liquid staking with restaking strategies and more sources of rewards. Please refer to its latest documentation for the current fee terms.

Top Use Cases**

1. Liquid Restaking – Best for users who want staking and more restaking options.
2. LST Composability – Fragmetric’s infrastructure allows users to work with multiple underlying Solana LST assets.
3. Restaking Strategies – Useful for applications that want more yield or reward opportunities than basic staking.
4. DeFi integration – fragSOL and other assets can be used in supported Solana DeFi protocols.
5. Modular Asset Infrastructure – Its token and reward-accounting architecture can be extended to more sophisticated liquid-restaking applications.

Major Limitations

1. Added protocol complexity – Restaking adds more layers of infrastructure than liquid staking.
2. Smart-Contract Risk – Risks related to liquid-restaking contracts and the assets they are used to back.
3. Emerging Ecosystem – The ecosystem is not as mature as well-established LST providers such as Jito and Marinade.
4. Reward Complexity** – Multiple sources of reward may complicate the evaluation of good yield and risk.

7. marginfi

In September 2023, marginfi launched its Solana liquid staking product, which is simply called LST, as part of its DeFi lending ecosystem. Users can stake SOL and receive a liquid staking token that remains usable within Solana’s DeFi environment. marginfi’s documented infrastructure includes integrations with Sanctum for liquidity and Jito for MEV-related rewards, as well as its validator set.

As such, the LST can be used for lending, swaps and other DeFi strategies while still serving as a staking asset. The broader marginfi ecosystem integrates marginfi assets into developers and applications. Per marginfi’s documentation, the LST had no acquisition, holding or withdrawal protocol fees, but users still pay applicable Solana transaction costs and external DeFi fees.

Best Uses

1. Liquid SOL Staking – Ability to stake SOL and get a liquid staking asset.
2. DeFi Lending – The LST could be particularly valuable within marginfi’s broader lending ecosystem.
3. Collateral Strategies – Users could potentially combine liquid staking with borrowing and lending strategies.
4. DeFi Composability – The asset is compatible with supported Solana DeFi apps.
5. Integrated Staking + Lending – Ideal for users who want to have staking and money-market functions in a connected ecosystem.

Key Limitations

1. Protocol Dependency – Users rely on many infrastructure elements to support the LST.
2. DeFi Risk – The use of LST as collateral adds to the risk around liquidation and lending markets.
3. Solana Ecosystem Dependency – Product is heavily dependent on Solana ecosystem.
4. Integration Availability – The real-world utility of the LST is dependent on the DeFi apps supporting it right now.

8. Liquid Collective

Liquid Collective is a liquid staking network focused on institutions that launched in 2022 and expanded to Solana with Liquid Staked SOL, or LsSOL, in July 2025. LsSOL is a Solana LST built on enterprise-grade infrastructure and compliance-focused processes and a network of professional node operators. The protocol was launched with the backing of major institutional ecosystem participants and is intended to provide standardized, interoperable staking infrastructure.

Liquid Collective also stresses API-first onboarding, diversified operators, security standards and DeFi interoperability. This means LsSOL is positioned differently to purely retail-focused Solana LSTs, targeting institutions, custodians, platforms and financial products. Its protocol service fee model should be referenced in the most recent Solana documentation as fee terms may differ by product and implementation.

Best Uses

1. Institutional Liquid Staking — Built for institutions requiring structured liquid staking infrastructure.
2. Custodian Integrations – For custodians and financial platforms that require institutional staking integrations.
3. Financial Products – LsSOL could be used as an underlying asset for institutional or structured products.
4. Enterprise Staking – For businesses requiring professional validator and infrastructure solutions.
5. DeFi Connectivity – LsSOL allows institutions to have liquid exposure and still access supported Solana applications.

Main Limitations

1. Institutional Focus – Its infrastructure might be less optimized for casual retail staking users.
2. Newer Solana LST – Its Solana offering has a shorter track record than established Solana LSTs.
3. Integration Coverage – The utility of DeFi depends on adoption by wallets, exchanges, protocols and other applications.
4. Infrastructure Complexity – Institutional onboarding may have more operational and compliance requirements than simple retail staking.

9. Lainie

Laine is a staking infrastructure provider for Solana and has operated a validator since 2021, providing native staking as well as liquid staking through laineSOL. Its liquid staking infrastructure employs an on-chain SPL Stake Pool that delegates the deposited SOL to Laine’s validator, so users can retain a liquid token while earning staking rewards.

laineSOL can be used in DeFi, traded via Sanctum, Jupiter and wallet-based swap interfaces, or redeemed via the platform. The current staking interface advertizes a 0% stake-pool fee, and states that laineSOL has no ongoing management fee, helping its yield to remain broadly aligned with native staking. Laine’s model is the single-validator model, whereas multi-validator LST pools focus on delegation diversification.

Top Use Cases**

1. Validator-Backed Liquid Staking – LaineSOL enables users to get liquid staking exposure.
2. Simple SOL Staking – Best for users who want a simple staking product and do not want to manage validators themselves.
3. Use in DeFi – laineSOL can be used in any Solana DeFi and trading platforms that support it.
4. Validator Exposure – Good for users looking for staking through Laine’s validator infrastructure.
5. Liquid Staking Trading – Users can retain a transferable staking position instead of locking SOL.

Main limitations

1. Validator Concentration – A validator-specific model may provide less delegation diversification than multi-validator LST pools.
2. Smaller LST Ecosystem – laineSOL has a smaller ecosystem footprint compared to top LSTs such as JitoSOL or mSOL.
3. Liquidity Dependency – The liquidity of the secondary market impacts how easily users can buy and sell or exit laineSOL.
4. Solana Dependency – It’s infrastructure is Solana-centric and doesn’t provide broad multi-chain LST exposure.

10. Phase Labs

Founded in 2021, Phase Labs is a Solana infrastructure company with products that span validator operations, staking, liquid staking and ecosystem delegation. The liquid staking product issues YIELD (formerly phaseSOL), which represents staked SOL, but retains liquidity for use in Solana DeFi.

Phase also runs Phase Stake and Aero Pool, which gives it a more extensive validator and delegation element to its infrastructure than a typical LST. Phase is building non-custodial staking infrastructure.

YIELD can be used in any Solana DeFi app and traded for SOL. Per public project info, Phase Stake has 0% validator and LST commission. Developer-facing infrastructure is more focused on staking and institutional deployments than a large public SDK ecosystem, which makes Phase especially relevant for custom or institutional Solana staking infrastructure.

Best Use Cases**

1. Liquid SOL Staking – The phase provides infrastructure for users looking for liquid exposure to staked SOL.
2. Validator Infrastructure – For projects that require professional Solana validator and staking infrastructure.
3. Institutional Staking – Its infrastructure might be of interest for organizations seeking bespoke staking arrangements.
4. DeFi Integration – Its liquid staking assets can offer staked-SOL exposure in supported Solana DeFi apps.
5. Custom Staking Solutions – Ideal for projects that require more infrastructure-oriented staking services and not just a consumer staking UI.

Major Downsides

1. Smaller LST Footprint – Phase has a smaller liquid-staking ecosystem than leading providers such as Jito and Marinade.
2. Limited DeFi Coverage – The utility of a token is directly proportional to the number of protocols and markets that support its liquid staking assets.
3. Liquidity considerations – Smaller LST markets may have less secondary liquidity than larger Solana staking tokens.
4. Solana Concentration – It’s mostly based on Solana infrastructure, not multi-chain liquid staking.

How to Choose a Sanctum Alternative?

LST Infrastructure: Provide the platform with a strong Solana liquid staking infrastructure, including LST creation, staking, delegation, redemption, and liquidity management functionalities to meet the various user needs.

Supported LSTs: Review supported liquid staking tokens, their underlying assets, exchange-rate mechanisms, liquidity, redemption options, and compatibility with Solana wallets, exchanges, lending protocols, and DeFi applications.

Fees: Check out staking commissions, management fees, deposit and withdrawal fees, redemption fees, and other transaction costs to get a sense of the overall cost of using each platform.

Validator Model: Take a look at the validator selection, delegation process, diversification, performance tracking and concentration to understand how each option handles the underlying staked SOL and network participation.

DeFi Integrations: Assess integrations with Solana DEXs, lending platforms, aggregators, liquidity pools and other applications to gage how easily LSTs can be deployed across DeFi.

Developer Tools: Access APIs, SDKs, documentation, smart-contract tools, integration resources and developer support available to build applications, staking products or customized LST infrastructure on Solana.

Safety & History: Consider audits, smart-contract design, protocol history, validator security, liquidity conditions, transparency, incident history and documentation before committing assets or integrating the infrastructure.

Conclusion

Sanctum has built a large infrastructure layer for Solana liquid staking, but there are a number of alternative solutions that take different approaches to LSTs, validator delegation, liquidity, DeFi integration, and developer tooling. Jito is focused on MEV-enhanced staking, Marinade is focused on validator diversification, and BlazeStake and JPool offer different liquid staking options.

Fragmetric extends the category to liquid restaking and marginfi connects LST functionality with lending. Liquid Collective is focused on institutional infrastructure, while Laine and Phase Labs offer validator-focused staking solutions.

When choosing a Sanctum alternative, users and developers should evaluate supported LSTs, fees, liquidity, validator models, security, integrations, and developer capabilities based on their specific requirements.